Kennywood's open! Here is what's new

Saturday

WEST MIFFLIN — New options and attractions will await visitors to Kennywood Park's 120th season.

The park opens to the public May 5, with May 6 featuring a special admission price of $18.98 in honor of the year Kennywood began. The park will be open weekends only until daily hours start May 24.

Get ready for:

Thomas Town

Four new family rides will debut themed around "Thomas The Tank Engine," the popular kids' story and animated series.

"We are looking at a midsummer opening right now with teams battling the cold, snow and rain of the last few months," Kennywood publicist Nick Paradise said.

The largest single-year addition in Kennywood history, Thomas Town will reside on a bluff overlooking the Monongahela River and the historic Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, a site Kennywood officials believe fits perfectly with Thomas' Island of Sodor setting.

Along with the new rides, Thomas Town will offer a retail center, soft-play area, Birthday Center and entertainment featuring Thomas’ friends Percy, James, Emily and Gordon. Sir Topham Hatt, controller of the railway on the Island of Sodor, will greet and take photos with guests.

Thomas Town lies within the path of The Olde Kennywood Railroad, a train attraction at the West Mifflin amusement park since 1945, which will be re-themed into a Thomas & Friends story.

Kennywood will have the second-largest permanent Thomas & Friends attraction in North America, trailing only the one in Massachusetts.

Sky Rocket in VR

Guests can upgrade their rides on the Sky Rocket coaster to wear virtual reality headsets, creating a whole new thrill ride experience.

After a test run last fall during Phantom Fright Nights, Sky Rocket’s Samsung Gear VR headsets will let riders enter a lifelike world painstakingly programmed to match the sensations produced by the roller coaster that launches from 0 to 50 mph in three seconds.

“Both Thomas Town and Sky Rocket VR show ways we look to stay on the cutting edge,” Kennywood general manager Jerome Gibas said in a press release.

Discount days

Thunderbolt Week will be May 28 to June 3, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of "The King of Coasters." Admission for guests age 50 and older will be $19.68 that week, marking the year the Thunderbolt opened.